Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Monday 9 July 2018

Death toll climbs to 76 as heavy rains hammer southern Japan

By HARUKA NUGA were retrieved from col-
YURI KAGEYAMA lapsed housing in the an-
Associated Press cient capital of Kyoto, both
HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) areas where the rainfall
— Searches continued was heavy in the past few
Sunday night for victims of days.
heavy rainfall that ham- Throughout the hard-hit
mered southern Japan for areas, rivers swelled and
the third straight day, as parked cars sat in pools of
the government put the water.
death toll at 48, with 28 oth- Japan has sent troops, fire-
ers presumed dead. fighters, police and other
Japanese government disaster relief. People have
spokesman Yoshihide Suga also taken to social media
said the whereabouts of to plead for help.q
92 other people were un-
known, mostly in the south- A road is damaged by flood
water following heavy rain
ern area of Hiroshima pre- in Kurashiki city, Okayama
fecture. prefecture, southwestern
More than 100 reports of Japan, Sunday, July 8, 2018.
casualties had been re- Associated Press
ceived, such as cars being dead, Kyodo news service
swept away, he said. reported.
Some 40 helicopters were In another area in Hiroshi-
out on rescue missions. ma, 12 people went miss-
“Rescue efforts are a battle ing when a residential area
with time,” Prime Minister got sucked into a landslide,
Shinzo Abe told reporters. and one body was later
“The rescue teams are do- found.
ing their utmost.” Kochi prefecture, on Shi-
The Japan Meteorological koku, issued landslide
Agency said three hours warnings almost over the
of rainfall in one area in entire island.
Kochi prefecture reached Public broadcaster NHK TV
an accumulated 26.3 cen- showed overturned cars on
timeters (10.4 inches), the roads covered with mud.
highest since such records A convenience store
started in 1976. worker, who had fled to a
The assessment of casual- nearby rooftop, said water
ties has been difficult be- had reached as high as his
cause of the widespread head.
area affected by the rain- The Japanese government
fall, flooding and land- set up an emergency of-
slides. fice, designed for crises
Authorities warned that such as major earthquakes.
landslides could strike even Military paddle boats were
after rain subsides as the also being used to take
calamity shaped up to be people to dry land.
potentially the worst in de- Okayama prefecture said
cades. in a statement that four
In Hiroshima prefecture, people had died, eight
water streamed through others were missing and 11
a residential area, strewn were injured, at least one
with fallen telephone of them seriously.
poles, uprooted trees and Seven homes were de-
mud. Some homes were stroyed, dozens more were
smashed. damaged, while more
A woman who was report- than 570 were flooded.
ed as missing after getting Kyodo reported several
trapped in her car was deaths in a landslide in Hi-
found but was pronounced roshima and more bodies